“Pound it out, bro,” I insisted, shaking my fist at him.
He snorted softly, ignoring my outstretched fist. “When we get to Nésion, have dinner with me.”
If he had sucker punched me, I could not have been more surprised. “What?”
“The kids will be occupied with that movie night slumber party thing, right?”
I nodded.
“Then let me thank you properly with dinner on the island.”
I gaped at him, doing what was probably a stunning imitation of a goldfish, but then I reached a decision and shook my fist at him again, raising my eyebrow in challenge. Logan chuckled, disbelieving, before he finally relented, touching his knuckles to mine.
Yeah, we’d just sealed a pact.
I wasn’t yet sure exactly what it meant, but I was going to enjoy finding out.
8
LOGAN
Whywas I nervous?
It wasn’t as if we were going on a date.
Okay, maybe I was dressed up more than usual.
And wearing cologne.
And pacing as I waited for Nina to appear dockside.
But this was definitelynota date, despite all of the date-adjacent indicators. I was merely taking my employee out for a much-deserved evening off while docked at our latest overnight destination.
We were making incredible progress with Noah, all thanks to her. When I asked her to come out with me tonight, I thought fine dining and maybe a little gambling on the island of Nésion would be a nice way to thank her. This night had been set up as a getaway for the parents, so the kids—including Noah—were well occupied with a whole movie night/slumber party planned. Nina and I were responsibility-free in the perfect place to have a good time. The island was basically a floating Las Vegas where thingscould get wild as hell, but I planned to keep our evening simple. A great meal, maybe a turn or two at the slot machines, then back on board.
I’d almost convinced myself that what we were doing was essentially an off-site meeting when I turned around and spotted Nina gliding toward me.
The sun was setting, which made her approach cinematic, backlighting her so that her sheer dress was transparent from her thighs down.
I felt a stirring between my own thighs.
No. Down boy.
She was far enough away that I could take my time admiring her as she got closer. Here I thought the dressed-down, casual version of her I’d experienced the night Noah had his breakdown was stunning, but holy shit, the glammed-up Nina was a freaking smoke show. Her hair was loose in all of its curly glory, cascading past her shoulders and down her back. The light pink dress hugged the surprise curves that her uniform usually camouflaged. And lord help me, thosehips. I sighed and continued my inventory.
She was in stilettoes but walking like they were as comfortable as sneakers. Whowasthis woman? She could crawl around on the floor in khakis and a golf shirt with a pack of kids then somehow metamorphosize into this supermodel who moved like she spent her days on a catwalk.
When she spotted me, her expression shifted from scanning the crowds on the dock with a furrowed brow to beaming.
Yeah, that smile was just for me. I tried not to get cocky and barely succeeded.
The smile didn’t dim as she walked closer. I glanced around and saw that every man she passed watched her walk by.
“Hi!” she said brightly. She scanned me up and down. “You look great.”
Now that Nina was right in front of me, I couldn’t form a complete sentence.
“And you look…” I gestured helplessly.
